updateANZ bank will be the first bank in Australia to deploy Cisco's AU$700,000 video over IP network conferencing tool, TelePresence.

Australia's third largest bank will install a TelePresence (TP) 3000 at its Melbourne head office and Bangalore-based operation in India. The rollout is expected to occur early next year.

"The technology allows us to have 'virtual' face-to-face meetings which otherwise would have required hours of travel, which helps reduce travel costs, time spent travelling and greenhouse emissions from airplane travel," said an ANZ spokesperson.

The TelePresence units will replace many of the meetings which are currently held via teleconference, they said.

ANZ's Bangalore operation employs 1,600 staff that support its software development and back office initiatives. The TP 3000 will give ANZ high-definition IP-based videoconferencing between its HQ and the Bangalore operation.

Both will be equipped with three 65-inch panels, special lighting, codecs and cameras.

Cisco's recently appointed Australian managing director, Les Williamson, told ZDNet Australia the price tag for a single TelePresence TP 3000 system is AU$350,000 -- a third of the cost is for physical support such as lighting, codecs and speakers. Although he declined to reveal what ANZ paid, the bank will have spent at least AU$700,000 on the two units alone.

The TP 3000 is Cisco's rival to HP's videoconferencing system, Halo. Williamson said that while HP "got the jump" on Cisco with Halo, the TP 3000 does not require a dedicated video exchange network between sites, unlike Halo, but instead relies on existing IP networks.

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